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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



from knowledge ; and on analysis, the 

 latter is found to possess three funda- 

 mental 'certitudes': self, other selves 

 and the external world. Science comes 

 under review next, and a most interest- 

 ing and, in the main, sensible, account is 

 given of its nature, as of its self-imposed 

 limitations. This fills about 180 pages. 

 Modern psychology is next brought to 

 book. Here Mr. Turner cannot be said 

 to achieve the same success. He makes 

 certain good points. For example, he 

 proposes the question, 'In what is called 

 physiological psychology, what share of 

 the discoveries belong to psychology 

 proper?' In replying he shows that, ulti- 

 mately, a very narrow line separates 

 psychology from philosophy — a truth 

 which some recent developments in 

 psychology make patent. We do not 

 think that in his chapter on 'Psycho- 

 logical Analysis' Mr. Turner preserves 

 his customary reserve and balance. This 

 appears plainly in the portion devoted to 

 Wundt, where sympathy Avith the his- 

 torical position of this psychologist 

 lacks decidedly. The First Book, which 

 is much the longer, concludes with a re- 

 view of philosophy. Here the author 

 manages to say some fresh and pertinent 

 things: "Philosophy is necessary monis- 

 tic. If philosophical speculation leads 

 to dualistic conclusions, these really con- 

 duct to the sceptical conclusion — that 

 the problem is insoluble." He infers that 

 philosophy has no better or higher 

 'Knowledge' than the sciences. In this 

 connection, his treatment of scientific 

 conceptions in philosophy deserves 

 praise. Book Second deals with 'Real 

 Knowledge,' knowledge of 'ends'; con- 

 cludes with a summary of negative in- 

 ferences, and a final proof that all 

 knowledge is, ultimately, belief. The 

 work is to be commended as an original 



© 



expression of its writer's own views and 

 difficulties. Its reception in certain cir- 

 cles of dogmatic philosophy ought to be 

 watched with interest. No scientific 

 man will be disposed to find much fault 

 with its sober methods. 



UAL ART A IN ITALY. 

 A translation by Dr. Eyre of Pro- 

 fessor Celli's interesting book upon 'Ma- 

 laria' * has recently appeared and is 

 most timely. The treatise admirably 

 illustrates the revolution that has been 

 recently wrought in the theories of the 

 epidemiology and prophylaxis of the dis- 

 ease. Professor Celli not only describes 

 the parasites causing the various kinds 

 of malaria afflicting vertebrate animals, 

 but also considers with great fulness 

 the general causes of predisposition to 

 malaria and the various methods that 

 have been suggested for preventing the 

 access of malaria germs to the human 

 organism. The fact that the mosquito 

 has been proved guilty of inoculating 

 human beings with this terrible disease 

 has revealed many opportunities for 

 public sanitation. Not the least inter- 

 esting part of Professor Celli's book is 

 the portion dealing with the economic 

 and social aspects of malaria in Italy. 

 The great influence of the disease upon 

 the welfare of the Italian people has 

 never been more strikingly portrayed. 

 The mean mortality from malaria in 

 Italy is about 15,000 per year, and it 

 is said that from 1877 to the end of 

 1897 more than 300,000 cases of ma- 

 laria occurred in the army alone. A 

 specially interesting section deals with 

 the relation of rice fields to the par- 

 ticular kind of mosquito responsible for 

 malarial infection. It is shown that the 

 rice fields, with their clear and slowly 

 running waters and their typical swamp 

 vegetation, afford peculiarly favorable 

 localities for the breeding of Anopheles, 

 the malaria-bearing mosquito, and that 

 the cultivation of rice has done much to 

 render malaria endemic in certain re- 

 gions. The author discusses very frank- 

 ly certain social conditions that expose 

 unduly a large class of the population 

 to malaria. The pictures of the huts 

 in which the peasants of the Campagna 

 live (pp. 174-6) are a striking witness 

 to the truth of his strictures. Taking 

 the book as a whole, it can be fairly 

 claimed that the latest researches upon 



* Longmans, Green & Co. 



